I’m an architect who has lived in Quilcene for the past 20 years and has served on the school district’s facilities committee for much of that time.
The Quilcene School District has called for a special election April 26 asking for the approval of a bond to finance the total replacement of its elementary school building, the construction of a trades and careers workshop building and the rehabilitation of the school’s athletic fields.
All of these improvements can be financed without increasing the current school tax rate.
The elementary school building was built in 1946.
It’s a wood frame structure with brick veneer with an unreinforced concrete foundation, failing single-pane steel windows and a leaky, low-slope membrane roof.
All of this building’s systems including mechanical, electrical and weather protection generally should have been replaced or modernized after 30 years of service.
These systems have been in place for over 75 years.
The building is failing basic school building design standards for safety, function, comfort, flexibility and operating cost.
In 2019, a state survey committee determined that the elementary school building would cost more to upgrade to current codes than to be replaced with all-new construction.
The elementary school is in desperate need of being replaced to serve Quilcene’s youngest students.
Eric Anderson
Quilcene